


the price of proximity

by wonpilsdimple



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Animal Crossing References, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Quarantine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:35:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23642449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonpilsdimple/pseuds/wonpilsdimple
Summary: They're all coping with confinement just like we are: playing video games, reading, ruthless teasing, eating, etc. Not all of those things work out, though.Someone, anyone, save Felix.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 81





	the price of proximity

**Author's Note:**

> this is the definition of self-indulgent. have fun!

"If you swat at me with your net again, I'm kicking you out." 

Seungmin glanced over to Jeongin sitting next to him on the couch, who struggled to conceal a smug smile behind his Switch. 

"Fine, I won't hit you with the net anymore," he grumbled. Before Seungmin could question his choice of words, Jeongin equipped his character's ax and swung at him. 

Sensing imminent danger, Jeongin removed himself from the couch and backed away slowly. 

Seungmin closed his eyes and drew deep breaths. It was the small provocations that pushed him over the edge lately. Between Jeongin's innocuous shows of meaningless defiance and Changbin's high-pitched baby talk, he found himself in more wrestling matches than before. He dealt with it fine before their mandated shut-in, but the time before seemed far removed from them now. 

"Hyung?" 

"Just... Come sit down," Seungmin sighed. 

Jeongin heeded his words but sat at the very edge of the couch. He kept his arms down to protect his ribs in case that he had misjudged his tone. 

Seungmin said nothing, looked down at his screen and clicked a button. A quiet laugh escaped his lips when Jeongin disconnected from his game. 

"But I left my cherries-" 

Jeongin was cut off by a loudly groaning Chan, who decided to lie facedown on the living room floor. He covered his head with his arms, but his bright red ears were hard to miss. Felix followed shortly after, fighting a smile.

The tension that had been there before dissipated as Felix plopped himself down between Seungmin and Jeongin, leaning heavily on Seungmin's side. Chan groaned again, and Felix couldn't hold back his laughter. 

"It's really not that bad, hyung," the freckled boy assured him. "You know they've always joked around like that, and even the _implication_ is a compliment to you anyway." 

Jeongin and Seungmin looked between Chan and Felix as if the interaction were a tennis match. The youngest finally nodded at Seungmin, who broke the silence. 

"What's with him?" 

Chan rolled over onto his back but kept his face hidden with his hands. "I've made," he inhaled, "a mistake." He refused to continue until Jeongin nudged him with his foot. "During my broadcast, one of our Stay said I had a big nose and I agreed, but then I looked down to show them my big feet, and now edits are floating around on SNS." 

"I'm still not seeing the bad thing here," Jeongin mumbled before focusing on his game. "Not sure why you'd show them your feet, though." 

Felix snickered. 

Chan whined again but removed his hands from his face, opting to stare at the ceiling. "That's not- They stopped the video after I said, 'You know what else is big?' and I looked down." 

Seungmin, to his credit, tried very hard not to laugh. He closed his eyes and pursed his lips, but his shaking shoulders gave him away. His contorted face was enough to send Felix and Jeongin into a laughing fit, much to their hyung's dismay. 

"You guys are mean." Chan's pout didn't linger, however, since Hyunjin chose an opportune moment to join them in the living room. He stumbled toward them, bleary-eyed, before using Chan's chest as a pillow while he wrapped around him on the floor. The oldest let out a loud "oof" as the air left his lungs but welcomed Hyunjin's company nonetheless. "What were _you_ doing, hm?" 

"I was falling asleep while reading a webtoon, but I came because I heard them laughing at you," Hyunjin deadpanned. "What'd you do?"

Chan interjected as they answered simultaneously. Felix held up a finger and pulled out his phone from his sweatpants' pocket, opening his messages without wasting a second. Seungmin and Jeongin both turned off their consoles, thoroughly entertained by the betrayal happening right in front of them. The ping coming from Hyunjin's back pocket resulted in a steady glare between Chan and Felix. 

"What did you send him, Felix?" The smile on Chan's face was too tight to be real. A shiver ran down Seungmin's spine. 

Hyunjin, awkwardly caught between them, slid a hand into his pocket to retrieve the message. Unfortunately, his volume was on the highest setting, making them all witnesses to the video Chan was mortified about. It was a classic Roundabout edit: the frame froze as he looked between his legs, with an arrow stating "To Be Continued" in the corner.

Hyunjin laughed but tried to maintain his composure. "It's... It's not that bad. We've done worse for sure." His reassuring words were lost as Chan shoved him off and ran towards Felix, who leaped over the couch in search of an escape. 

"YOU SAVED THE VIDEO?" Chan yelled after him.

A startled Minho appeared in the doorway, quickly blinking as Felix pushed past him. 

The door slammed shut in Chan's face, but being someone who refuses to give in easily, he turned the knob and shoved it open. The members heard only a high-pitched yelp from Felix before Chan disappeared into the room, the door closing behind them once more. 

Minho adjusted the round glasses slipping from his nose. "So," he began, "What's all that about?" He glanced at Jeongin and Seungmin, who were still on the couch, and Hyunjin, who hadn't moved since Chan had tossed him aside. 

"I'll send it to you later," said Hyunjin without looking up from his phone. 

Minho backed away when the door swung open, revealing Chan and a defeated-looking Felix in his arms. 

"Who's hungry?" Chan asked, seeming almost oblivious to the weight he was carrying. His strength never ceased to surprise them. 

"I'm not eating Felix," Jeongin muttered under his breath. 

Felix let his head roll back, "Hyung, put me down." 

"No-" Chan turned to Minho, "Should we order chicken? Where are Changbin and Jisung? We should ask them what they want to eat." 

"I'll go ask them." Minho ignored Felix mouthing "help" and walked around the pair to the other room. It didn't surprise him at all to find Jisung in his bunk, but he found it odd that he had let Changbin up there with him. He usually had too many things on his bed to accommodate two people, but here they were, curled up against each other. 

Jisung paused the video on his laptop. "Yeah?" 

"Chan wants to know what you guys want to eat." He shut the door a bit and lowered his voice. "Also, I don't know what Felix did, but don't ask why he's being carried like that."

Jisung and Changbin exchanged a concerned glance. 

"...Alright." 

"What were you two watching, by the way?" 

"Nature documentary," Jisung climbed down after Changbin, careful not to step on him. "I've decided I hate ants." 

Minho raised an eyebrow.

"They can link together to form bridges and chains. We saw a video of them attacking a wasp's nest, too." Changbin shuddered. "Let's never watch that again," he said to Jisung, who shook his head furiously. 

Minho wrapped an arm around each of them and led them out of the room. "Sounds like you had fun, now go tell Chan what you want while I wash the rice." 

He was in the kitchen, pushing his sleeves up and about to wash his hands when his phone buzzed. Hyunjin's name lit up the screen with a video attached to his text message. "Lower the volume," it read. 

He held the phone close to his ear. He knew Chan had done a broadcast, but that was the extent of his knowledge. 

That was until the edit spoke for itself. Chan was meme'd once again. 

He kept his snort to a minimum and carried on with his task. Once he had the rice cooker set up, he dried his hands and sat in the living room, which had been awfully quiet. Quiet for them, at least. 

The boys made space for Minho on the couch when they saw him approach. Hyunjin and Seungmin shared the T.V. screen on multiplayer while Jeongin visited their Animal Crossing island from his own game. Changbin and Jisung stood in the corner, discussing a takeout menu with Chan. Felix was still in his arms, which were beginning to visibly shake. 

"Can you put me down? You're shaking."

Chan shook his head and adjusted his grip. "Nope. This is the only time revenge makes me a stronger person." 

Felix grumbled. "I wasn't even the one who made the edit." 

Changbin patted Felix's head and turned to face Chan. "Who's going to make the call, though? I don't want to do it. I always forget someone's side dish," he murmured sheepishly. He held his phone out to Chan, not giving him an option. 

Chan acquiesced; He was tired. He set Felix down and took the phone from Changbin, walking to the kitchen for privacy. 

Felix stretched like a cat once Chan was gone. "Thanks, Changbin-hyung." 

Changbin didn't hear him, though. He became distracted by Seungmin's occasional bickering.

Jisung draped himself over Minho's shoulder. "What are they doing?" he pointed at Jeongin's screen. 

"I think they're fishing, Jisung." Jeongin's character clearly brandished a fishing pole. 

"That's... not a fish," he retorted as Jeongin fished a turtle from the river. 

Seungmin bounced in his seat, leaning over to see his screen. "You caught the turtle? I've been looking for it for two weeks."

"That sucks for you. Come look at it," Jeongin smirked at him. 

Seungmin's character waited until Jeongin set the turtle on the ground and clicked on it. To his horror, the turtle hissed and nipped at him. "WHY DID IT DO THAT?" 

"It's a _snapping_ turtle," Jisung chimed in over Minho's shoulder. 

Hyunjin reflexively gripped Seungmin's arm to hold him back. "Don't."

Seungmin locked eyes with him, pleading. "You know I've got to. I've got to kill him." 

"I'm going to check on the rice," Jisung slowly walked toward the kitchen before scurrying toward safety. Or Chan. They were synonymous depending on the day. 

The laughter coming from the living room did nothing to ease his fear of Seungmin's retaliation. Jisung heard Chan giving the final details of the order when he received a video from Seungmin. "Volume on :)" it read.

Jisung knew better than to do that but watched it on silent, anyway. His curiosity got the best of him sometimes. While he didn't quite understand the context of Chan's actions, the freeze-frame of him looking down didn't appear to be good in _any_ context. 

Chan shot him a questioning glance as he hung up. "You okay?" 

He shook his head no. The willpower required to not laugh in his face was not the willpower Jisung possessed. His resolve was crumbling, so he stepped forward and did the only thing he could think to do. He squeezed Chan into a hug and didn't let go, even when his suppressed laughter turned into tears. 

"Ji- Ji, are you crying?" Chan instinctively wrapped his arms around him, his voice a concerned whisper. He rubbed his back, unsure what had caused his reaction. "Um... The food will be here soon." 

The younger boy managed a "thank you" between his sobs, and Chan led him back to the living room with everyone else. No one dared to make eye contact with Jisung for the next half hour, as looking him in the eyes would only make him cry-laugh harder. 

Mealtimes had become quiet lately. They were moments where they all came together after their individual activities to focus on one thing: food. Everyone offered their opinion on what to eat, cooked, set the table, and washed the dishes without complaint, for the most part. 

This was not one of those times, however. Ordering food had been chaotic from the start, and Jisung was a landmine. 

Chan was oblivious to the tension that permeated the dinner table. He carried on, as usual, enjoying his meal and his time with the members. The joy came to a screeching halt when he reached into the bucket of chicken and pulled out a rather large-looking leg. "Wow, this one's big," he commented.

Everyone else at the table felt their blood run cold when Jisung sat up in his chair. His time had come, and there would be no survivors. They all prayed, hoping they might be saved from their unfortunate fate. Jisung knew this. Still, he opened his mouth. 

"You know what else is big?" 

The aftermath was unspeakable, and their manager banned them from ordering chicken after that.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!!!! (also, surprise! I'm alive) 
> 
> I hope you're all staying inside, safe and healthy. Some of us may not be in the most loving environments right now so I wanted to put out something that will hopefully help a bit. My heart goes out to all of you <3 
> 
> You can find me on twitter @ kaysbinnie & @ wonpilsdimples (<\--social media AUs)  
> I'm also on Tumblr @ wonpilsdimple
> 
> Feel free to send me memes and anything your heart desires c:


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